Chapter 126

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Last night was really tough. ……!

Challengers came one after the other.

The heat of the moment made me accept the challenge and beat them all, and as expected, I was officially judged as inhuman by the beast children.

No, to be more precise, I guess it’s more accurate to say that I made them realize that humans are such creatures.

Anyway, I became friends with the old beastmen.

“Well, that’s good. It’s much better than being stared at, right?”

“Yeah, but, you know, there’s something about this difference in treatment ……”

Early in the morning, I was sitting at the table in Kagari-san’s living room with my head in my hands, being comforted by Amako sitting next to me. Aside from me and Amako, there were also Arc-san, Nea, and Rinka sitting at the table.

Last night, I left too much to the momentum of the moment, even though it was my own fault.

Towards the end of the party, I felt like I was treating the tough guys from the rescue squad. I don’t know, maybe I got drunk from the smell of alcohol.

“Haha, because I noticed that you were arm-wrestling with a belligerent smile on your face.”

“Was I showing such a face?”

“Yes, you looked like you were having a great time.”

Sure, the arm-wrestling itself was fun, but it wasn’t as painful as the obviously donkey-eyed kids and the stares of the women.

“Nea, you’re the most wicked vampire …… who’s ever shown herself off to a child!”

“What do you mean, ‘most evil’?”

Nea, who was sitting in front of me, reacted to my complaint without concern.

I was joking about the evil, but I wondered why I was treated like a monster and she, a demon, was treated like a human.

“Your face is not scary at the very least.”

“I’m aware that I’m scary, but not to the point of being evil.”

“Hmm, only you don’t know that.”

I couldn’t say anything back to Nea, who said that to me in a very triumphant way.

Amako puts her hand on my shoulder.

“It’s okay, Usato. Even if you look scary, Usato is still Usato.”

I thought she was comforting me, but she affirmed my evil face.

Yeah, is it a known fact that I already have a vicious face ……?

I don’t know what kind of face to make in anger from now on.

My shoulders slumped and I felt depressed. At that time, Rinka, who had been silent for a long time next to Amako, gushed out.

“I don’t know, I just feel stupid for being so weirdly scared.”

“Rinka?”

“I’ve been thinking about it since last night, and I knew Amako was right. The people you believed in weren’t bad people.”

Amako rolled her eyes at Rinka’s words.

When we were as surprised as Amako, Rinka turned her gaze to me.

“It’s true that Usato is strong enough to beat all the adults in our village, and he’s also faster than me, a wolf beast. He’s a monster, to be honest. But if you look at him properly, you’ll see that he’s not a bad person. Yesterday, he was thinking about Amako and let me talk to her. ……”

After saying that, Rinka gets up from her seat and walks up to me.

Confused by her behavior, she bowed her head vigorously.

“I’m sorry about yesterday! I didn’t know what was going on and shot the arrow!”

For my part, I didn’t expect her to apologise because I had scared her more than she had scared me.

Confused by the sudden apology, I responded with a smile that was as reassuring as possible.

“I can’t help it if you were acting to help Amako. Besides, I scared you too, so we’re even.”

“Oh, really? I’d feel a lot better if you’d just say that.”

“Hmph!”

“Kyaa!?”

Amako, who had a smile on her face, slammed her hand into the back of Rinka’s head.

It was only a light tap, but Rinka jumped up with a cute scream at the sudden hand sword from behind.

“Hey, what are you doing! You startled me.”

“I don’t think you should do that after apologizing.”

“No, it’s fine! Because Usato says he’ll forgive me!”

“What?”

“Hee! I won’t be frightened even if you give me such scary eyes!”

Amako’s face was expressionless as she faced the teary-eyed Rinka.

Even though she says she’s not scared, Amako’s gaze becomes even sharper as Rinka hides behind me while I’m sitting down.

They’re such good friends.

It’s not often that I see Amako bare her emotions like this, which makes me smile.

“Amako, the Hootbird I sent yesterday is back. He also had a letter from my son.”

While I was watching their exchange, Kagari-san came into the living room.

That’s fast of them to answer.

After receiving the letter from Kagari-san, Amako opened it, which was neatly folded, and looked through it.

“…… Kagari-san. Can I trust you with this?”

“My son is your mother’s best friend. And he’s not the kind of man who’d be clever enough to cheat anyone.”

“…… Yeah, okay.”

“Amako, what did it say?”

I ask Amako, who is upset by the letter.

“It said that they would arrange for us to come in from the back.”

“Does that mean we’re in?”

“Yes. That’s what it says.”

I could understand Amako’s suspicion.

At any rate, it was strange to think that they would allow not only Amako but also me and Arc-san to enter the country. You can suspect a trap against me and Arc-san, who are human.

“It’s okay, Amako. My dad, he’s the kind of guy who’s always smiling and laughing.”

“Yes, but ……”

Amako is stunned by Rinka’s words.

Anxiety, I guess.

My healing magic is essential to saving Amako’s mother. If I get caught before I can save her mother, that won’t happen either.

“What should we do, Arc-san?”

“I think we should go. Currently, the only way to enter the beastmen’s country is to hide our identities or enter without being seen, so this story is not a bad one for us.”

Normally, it would be difficult to even enter this place just because you are human.

As much as I have to hide my identity, there is no better story than if they invite me in from that side.

“Is it worth worrying about now? Either way, we have no choice but to enter the beastman country to help Amako’s mother.”

“…… I guess so.”

I nodded at Nea’s words.

If they betray us, we can think of another move. It’s a shame that we won’t be able to give them the letter, but as long as we can save Amako’s mother, which was our original goal, it’s fine.

“Amako, let’s go to the beastmen’s country for now.”

“…… Yeah.”

Amako looked uneasy, but nodded.

“Kagari-san, how far is it to the Land of Beastmen?”

“It’s not that far from here. On foot, it’s about an hour or two.”

That’s pretty close, isn’t it?

Then we can head there today.

After confirming with Arc-san and the others, I tell Kagari-san that we’ll be leaving today.

“Then, we will leave for the Beastmen Country after I send a letter with the date and time of arrival to the Beastmen Country by HootBird.”

“That’s fast. Well, I guess that can’t be helped. …… Rinka”

“Hmm? What, Grandpa?”

“Take them to the Beastmen Country. And while you’re at it, go show my late son some face.”

“Yeah, I’ll show them around, but I don’t want to see my father.”

Rinka gives him a wry look.

He doesn’t like her father? But it’s not that she doesn’t like him, it’s that he’s a pain in the ass.

I wonder what kind of person he is. I’m sure he holds a high position in the beast tribe because he is in a position to invite us in.

…… Let’s ask her name, just in case.

“Kagari-san, may I ask the name of Rinka’s father?”

“Oh, I didn’t tell you that. My son’s name is Hayate. He’s the assistant to the chief of his country.”

“Chief’s assistant?”

The chief is the chief of the beastman tribe, right? Isn’t it pretty amazing to be an assistant to someone like that?

I didn’t know that Rinka’s father is a higher-ranking person than I thought.

As we were making preparations at the exit of the village to leave the hidden village, we saw many beasts gathering there.

I wondered what was going on, but it seemed that the people in the village had already heard that we were leaving for the land of the beasts.

Arc-san was saying goodbye to the beastwomen he had talked to yesterday, Nea was saying goodbye to the children, and as for me…

“Go for it, Usato.”

“I’m looking forward to the day when we can compare strength again!”

“You may look human, but inside you’re even more impressive than we are!”

I was about to be sent off with a smile by men who were a size larger than me.

The temperature in my vicinity was rising. ……! I’m glad that everyone is trying to send me off with a smile, but I can’t help but feel my smile twitching.

It’s not that I’m not a good person, it’s just that I’ve been treated more like an alien than a beast. ……

“Usato.”

“Oh, Daitetsu-san.”

In the midst of all this, Daitetsu-san called out to me.

“I didn’t expect you to leave so early, man.”

“I’m sorry, …….”

“No need to apologize. I know what you’ve come into our land for.”

Did the chief tell the people of the village about us last night?

For a moment, Daitetsu-san glanced toward Amako, then placed his large hand on my shoulder.

“Hang in there, Usato. You’re definitely going to save that kid’s mother, right?”

“Yes, of course. That’s why I’m here.”

I nodded, and Daitetsu-san smiled pleasantly at me.

It all started when I asked Amako to show me a future where inugami senpai and Kazuki would die. Then, after going through many hardships, we finally arrived at this point.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll be fine. If there’s anything I’m worried about, it’s what happens to people who fight with you! After all, you have more strength than an ogre! I don’t even want to imagine being hit by the fists of a monster like that!

“Ha… ha…. ha….”

I was impressed that I got nothing to say.

Well, I can’t say I’ve ever punched an ogre before. But I’d go easy on a normal human opponent, okay?

It’s just that the ones I’ve had to really move against, like the wicked dragon, Karon, and Leona-san, have been strange.

“Usato-dono, we’re about to leave.”

“Ah, yes. Take care, everyone …….”

“Oh. Take care, Usato.”

After replying to Arc-san, who had his horse and Bluerin carry my luggage on his backs, I said goodbye to Daitetsu-san once again, then departed the hidden village and headed for the Land of Beasts.

I had no idea what kind of place the Beastmen Country would be, but now that I had come this far, I had no choice but to go there.

If we can save Amako’s mother without any trouble, that would be fine.

We left the hidden village and headed for the land of the beasts.

Currently, Rinka is guiding us along a treeless path through the trees, but I’m still worried about not having a path to walk on.

If we were to get separated, I’m sure I’d get lost as I don’t know the area.

By not creating a …… path, was this an attempt to lead people astray as they entered the beasts’ territory? I may be overthinking this, but I’m not used to this land, and I’m sufficiently annoyed by it.

“Lemme borrow your shoulder!”

“Yeah, no problem.”

As I walked along, lost in thought, Nea, who had somehow transformed into her owl form, jumped onto my shoulder.

As for me, there’s no reason to refuse her since it’s something I do all the time, but I’d like her to walk by herself once in a while.

“Usato.”

“Hmm? What’s the matter? What’s wrong with your voice?”

As I was thinking this, Nea jumped on my shoulder and spoke to me in a hushed voice.

When I turned to Nea in question, she looked sideways at Amako and whispered in the same way as before, so that only I could hear.

“Amako has a good ear.”

…… Is there something she doesn’t want Amako to hear? The fact that she cut it out before going to the land of the beastmen might mean it was that important.

…… Amako is chatting with Rinka at the front?

I casually slow down and step away from Amako, and speak to Nea in a hushed voice.

“So, what is it?”

“I want to ask you something about the future.”

“The future?”

“It’s about what’s going to happen after we enter the Land of Beasts.”

“……”

After we’ve entered the land of the beastmen, huh?

Well, if Nea had to talk about anything right now, it would be this topic.

I look over at Amako walking in front of me and open my mouth to Nea.

“As you probably know, Amako is a very special person even in the Land of Beastmen.”

“Yeah.”

Rose is the Princess of Time Chanting, or something like that.

She recites time, and is a user of precognitive magic. She has no physical attacks, but she is the most powerful magic I know.

How could I not consider such magic to be special?

“I think it’s fishy. Because there are too many weird things about it. Amako’s mother slipping into an unexplained coma, beasts relentlessly searching for Amako. And the letter that said it was a good idea to let the humans Usato and Arc into the beastman country today.”

Nea was right, there were many oddities.

Why didn’t Amako’s mother wake up? There must be a reason why she collapsed.

Was she cursed in some way, like Eva, or did she fall ill? Worst of all, there was no denying the possibility that a third party had prevented her from waking up.

“Maybe the girl knows what she’s doing.”

“…… I’m sure she does. But we can’t afford not to go.”

There’s still hope to save her, so we can’t abandon her.

It’s like the bait that calls out to Amako, who has left the Land of Beastmen–

“Huh, no. You’re taking this too far in a bad way. ……”

What I’m thinking is just my imagination.

And yet, it’s not good to get a bad impression.

“If possible, I want this to end without incident. But if that’s not possible, I’m thinking of saving Amako and her mother at least.”

“…… You’re still not thinking straight, but that’s fine for now. There’s a big difference between being prepared and not being prepared.”

Nea was taken aback by my words, but she replied.

She must have known that I had chosen my words carefully.

The worst thing that could happen is that I might have to choose between Amako and her mother.

I don’t want to imagine a situation where I would have to make that choice, and I don’t intend to put myself in that situation.

“Well, I’ll abide by your decision in any situation, okay? I trust you enough to do so.”

I was momentarily taken aback when Nea added that.

Trust, huh? I chewed on that word and looked at Amako, who was walking in front of me.

I trust the people I’ve traveled with so far. I’ve overcome hardships because I’ve trusted them so far.

When I think about it, the obstacles that may be waiting for us now seem like nothing.